Plan of attack

It seems that Jacques and Elisabeth will be in Brittany for the rest of the week. Coco says he can't go get the cupboard doors and pay for them himself, so we have to wait. Next week...

I've known Jacques for at least five years, and Coco for about a year. He's done work here before. He does high-quality work. Everything will work out just fine. It just will take longer than we hoped — probably unrealistically — a few weeks ago. Who was it who said a couple of months ago: "It will take longer and cost more than you think it will."?

There's something nice about finally getting
these plants set outdoors again.

Anyway, our goal is to get the work done and get the new room upstairs all set up before winter. That's been the goal all along. Pas de panique !

The plum trees that blew down are producing fruit
now. In a few weeks, it will be ready to pick.

I don't know what to do about having company this summer. As things stand now, we have only one bedroom. But there are solutions, I'm sure. We'll just have to be creative. Finding a place for guests to sleep is one thing, but finding time to spend with them might be another, depending on how the sanding, varnishing, and painting jobs develop.

I'll continue the work of taking down this old wallpaper.

It's important to keep perspective. There is wallpaper to be taken down, and I'm going to start on that this morning. We'll be that far ahead of the game. We can also start cleaning and sanding the beams up in the attic, as well as doing some light sanding of the seams in the plasterboard. There's no shortage of stuff to do.

It's so nice to be able to take advantage
of the yard this time of year.

And then there's the garden, the cat, the dog, and the cooking. And the tennis tournament on TV. Whew! Who has time to spare?

And there's always a dog to go on long walks with...

It's been raining outside for the first time in a while. Walt has gotten a lot of the garden planted over the past few days. Tomato and eggplant seedlings, among others, are ready to set out now. Time to get going.

Yesterday, we roasted a chicken with carrots, onions,
Moroccan spices, and golden raisins.

And the cooking has to be done, now matter what. That's the entertainment part, and the reward. It's one of the things I love about living in France — the quality and variety of the food.